The Coordinating Minister for Well being and Social Welfare, Mohammed Ali Pate, has mentioned that Nigerians can’t be constrained to hunt medical care within the nation.
Pate added that the elite had the appropriate to decide on the place to go on medical tourism.
The minister acknowledged this when he appeared as a visitor on Channels Tv Politics As we speak programme on Friday night.
Pate argued that the nation didn’t function a communist system of presidency, which might constrain the alternatives of people, noting that different African leaders sought medical care in Nigeria.
He famous that the nation had “nicely designed, nicely structured, correctly outfitted”, well being services in Nigeria, however that some had constructed the narrative that the healthcare system didn’t work.
“The narrative simply will get constructed that we don’t have something right here, as if we need to lose respect for ourselves. If I inform you there are different senior leaders from different African international locations coming right here for medical care, would you imagine that?
“Don’t battle with the standard of our healthcare and what it has to supply and the alternatives that people are allowed to make for varied causes. Tourism is one thing that everyone has a proper to decide on wherever they need to go. You can’t constrain folks, we aren’t in a communist system the place you say ‘Oh all people must be tied’.
“I believe there are services which might be nicely designed, nicely structured, correctly outfitted, and that they’ve well being staff, professionals, docs, surgeons, pharmacists, nurses, which might be working very onerous to supply these providers. Oftentimes folks make selections, however different occasions folks construct on the narratives that nothing works or nothing is sweet in Nigeria,” he mentioned.
Requested whether or not the State Home clinic was sufficient to deal with the healthcare wants of the nation’s leaders, Pate responded “I believe it’s”, including, nonetheless, that the main focus needs to be on the Nigerian inhabitants that suffered inequality in entry to healthcare providers.